What If
by Lailuh
Summary: A series of short, unrelated oneshots of possible things that could happen to our dear Spider-man. (Hiatus with very irregular updates 12/9/18)
1. Chapter 1

It was supposed to be a regular patrol; nothing had happened in the past weeks and the crime rate had been relatively low, so Peter couldn't comprehend how or why he was currently lying on a rooftop with a knife wound in his outer thigh. He had stopped a robbery with no problem and watched as the cops arrived but only registered the pain in his leg when he started to head home.

So there he was, sitting on top of a building with blood pouring out of his leg like there was no tomorrow. He was listening to Karen, telling him how to properly make a tourniquet to staunch the bleeding if even a bit before he was able to move.

"Karen I don't _have_ anything to tie above the hole."

 _"You could use your webbing to apply pressure to it. That's going to be the next best thing if you can't actually stop the bleeding."_

Peter huffed. He'd done that before but it was always a literal pain to get off when he tried to actually treat it.

"How long has it been bleeding like this?"

 _"Approximately eight minutes."_

"And how far away am I from the tower?"

 _"Peter I strongly urge you to use your web as a compression bandage before you attempt to make any movement. It'll only worsen your wound. I'll direct you in the quickest path to get to the tower after that."_

"Yeah, thanks."

Peter wobbled to the side of the roof, readied himself then jumped. He had figured freefalling would help his leg not hurt, but the sudden swinging himself up from the fall every time made it hurt even worse. Every swing made it feel like his leg was being pulled from him.

He listened to Karen's instructions telling him where to go and giving him updates on his leg and what to expect in the future with his blood loss. It's not like it was anything new but he was grateful.

 _"Peter you're swinging too low to make it into the correct level of the tower. You need to get higher."_

Peter knew she was trying to lead him to the penthouse and most likely to where someone else was.

"Sorry Karen, it's not gonna happen. Can you open a window or something?"

She did, or at least she contacted FRIDAY to open the window because he didn't crash through it. Instead he tried to land on the floor, but seeing as his leg was messed up he more so tumbled in and crashed into the back of a couch.

"Thanks." He said as he pulled his mask off and groaned. That was certainly going to bruise. He laid behind the couch trying to ignore the throbbing in his leg when he heard a door open.

"I swear to god if something just crashed through the window-"

Peter halfheartedly raised an arm. "Sorry Mr. Stark. But in my defense, I didn't actually go through the glass."

Tony looked down at the mess that was Peter; his eyes were shut and face was lacking color a bit. The small blood smears on the floor seemed to be where it had gone.

"Shit kid. Are you alright? What happened?"

"I stopped a robbery tonight- and gone stabbed in the process. I don't know when it happened but I think I'm okay."

"You're the only person I know who would use _stabbed_ and _okay_ in the same thought process." Tony helped him sit up, eying the red webbing on his leg. "You did a good job at momentarily slowing the bleeding."

"Karen wouldn't let me move if I didn't; said she'd call you and have you hold me like a princess."

"Well she's not wrong."

"Honestly though, I feel fine. I'm just real tired from the blood loss. All I need is some orange juice and a nap and I'll be better."

"Uh huh, sure. We'll let the doctors be the judge of that."

 **Okay so lemme tell you guys a thing. This isn't my typical story whatever. It's going to be a short series of less than 1000 word oneshots with no plot back when I tried doing whumptober before life seemed to throw everything at me. I think I only have seven prompts done so there'll be that many short little segments at least; might post some longer unfinished and abandoned stories here too because they fit in.**

 **If you have prompts you'd like to see, PLEASE send them to me. I need ideas of what could happen to our sweet little spiderchild at school so I can continue that little series. I'm trying to finish up a longer stories that kinda fits into it but aaaaaaaa.**

 **Hope you enjoyed. See ya later!**


	2. Chapter 2

It was warm out; humid and sticky to the point of disgust. Peter could feel the sweat sticking his mask to his face. Every movement was sickening and gross. He figured the stickiness on his hands was just more sweat but when he actually went to look, he saw red.

His hands were coated in blood.

It wasn't his though, at least he thought. Mainly because Karen didn't report him being injured in anyway. He didn't know whose it was. He didn't remember seeing anyone get injured or even touching, nor did he recall himself getting injured. Either way, it was disconcerting; hence why he was currently on his way to the tower to clean himself up before returning home.

He arrived on the Stark landing pad. FRIDAY had opened the veranda door upon his arrival. He knew she had more likely informed Tony of his visit so he didn't bother telling her not to. He took off his mask then gloves as he headed inside.

It was supposed to just be something quick before returning home, but seeing the blood on his bare hands made him sick. He froze for a second before rushing to the sink and dry heaving over it. He turned the water on and put his head under it in hopes of perhaps calming himself down but it's effects seemed to be very little.

Peter spared a small glance at his hands again and was met with the same sick feeling. They were quickly placed under the faucet and he started to scrub the blood away.

"Kid?" Tony's voice echoed through the room. "FRIDAY said you might be hurt."

Peter ignored him and continued to scrub his hands. The blood wouldn't come off. It was like a stain and no matter how hard he scrubbed, the water just wouldn't run clean.

"Pete?" Tony was behind him, watching as he scrubbed his clean hands to the point of them getting raw. "Pete, stop."

Tony's words went ignored, or they weren't heard in the first place. Peter needed to get the blood off.

"Hey." Peter stopped at that. The faucet was turned off and Tony's hands were holding his, the blood void from them and the sink. "Are you okay kiddo?"

Peter blinked several times before answering. "Yeah, yeah I'm good. I uh, sorry."

"You wanna tell me what that was?"

No, he really didn't, mainly because he didn't know himself.

"I- don't know. There was just- blood and I don't know whose but seeing it on my hands… I don't know, I- it reminded me of how Ben died and I just- I'm sorry for coming here but if I went home then-"

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. You don't have anything to apologize for. You know you're always welcome here no matter the circumstances." Tony patted him on the shoulder. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just know that it's okay when things like that happen, it's a normal human thing to react like that."

"Thanks Mr. Stark." Peter have him a small smile.

"Buuuut just to put my mind at easy, how about we let Brucie give you a quick check to make sure you're all good?"

"Sure thing."

 **I was thinking I might take some of the other prompts and make them into something more in depth and longer but I really wanna finish the other ones I'm doing but we'll see**

 **As always, please point out and grammatical or spelling errors you find so I might fix them in the future.**

 **Hope ya liked it. See ya later!**


	3. Chapter 3

Tony had noticed it just after the third week. Peter had become sluggish and lethargic, he would need simple calculations explained in great detail, and a project he was working on that had zero faults seemed to literally blow up in his face.

He noticed abnormally long patrols happening at least once a week until they appeared to be every night. When Tony had confronted him about it, Peter had given him an excuse of crime being extra heavy. Tony chose not to point out the crime rate had been at a low for the past two months.

It was when Peter all but collapsed in the lab that Tony finally made him sit and tell him what's been bugging him.

"I've had a hard time sleeping lately. Every time I close my eyes, I see the people that we've fought. They're just there… blaming me for what happened to them. It's just like- the guilt of everything is kinda showing itself.

"I know that it's not true and that we were the ones to put an end to them, we weren't the ones that started them on the path they were on. I know I shouldn't feel guilty for the decisions they made because I had nothing to do with them but- I can't help it."

"You're really too pure for your own good." Tony smiled slightly and shook his head. "Are you use its guilt you're feeling and not something else? You said so yourself you shouldn't feel guilty."

"I think I'm scared."

That wasn't the answer Tony was expecting; anxious or paranoid, maybe even a legitimate reason for the guilt but not fear.

"It started out as nightmares, us fighting and losing, but they became so vivid. I would wake up sweaty and out of breath from the fight And not be able to get back to sleep. After a few days it got to the point where I couldn't close my eyes without seeing them and I just kinda stop trying to sleep after that."

"Kid-"

"It's stupid and irresponsible but I can't… I can't watch everyone keep dying."

"Pete." Tony's voice was soft. "We're all alright. No one is going to be dying any time soon. They're just dreams; they're not real."

"I know but- I just can't Mr. Stark. I can't watch it again."

A small frown appeared on Tony's face. "I think I have a way to fix this."

When Tony said he had a solution, Peter never would've guessed it involved getting everyone together for a party. He heard phone calls being made, the weird speech patterns being used which he assimilated it to being some sort of code they all used to talk about one another without actually being said person up.

He definitely didn't expect everyone to actually show up either but there they were, all sitting in the penthouse lounge having drinks and laughing with each other.

The whole thing had gone on the rest of the day and late into the night.

Peter didn't even remember falling asleep but was quite surprised when he woke up in the early hours of the morning feeling refreshed and well rested. Nor had he counted on waking up on a couch next to Bruce or seeing Natasha asleep in the armchair across the table.

He looked around the dark room and barely made out the shape of everyone asleep in what looked like uncomfortable positions. His personal favorite was seeing Steve laying face down on the floor, looking perfectly content with the decision. He saw Tony taking up most of the other couch with Clint balled up on one end.

A silent thanks left his lips. He was able to fall asleep with no trouble after that.

 **Tiny little fluff chapter how nice.**

 **To the guest that left me a prompt, I'll try but I become brain dead when trying to write any sort of romance. I don't actually know who Cindy Moon is- _I know shame on me_ , but I'll do some research and see if I can think of anything. Also I'm really looking for prompts having to do with school right now but I'll keep that one in mind!**

 **Hope ya liked it. See ya later!**


	4. Chapter 4

There were no words to describe what Tony was feeling at that moment. They were finally able to find Peter after a week of searching. He was hanging in a warehouse, chains and manacles around his wrists and ankles; a small puddle of blood under his feet dripping from an unknown location.

He didn't respond when his name was called, or when they got the chains off and got him on the ground. Everyone stood still and quiet just to make sure he was still breathing.

"Get his mask off."

Tony did as he was told and carefully began to peal the mask off. Peter's face was a palet of blue and purple; a small cut on his temple and across his cheek.

"There's blood on the back of his head. He most likely has a concussion." Bruce said upon examination. "It doesn't look like anything's broken at least. Get his suit off so we can find out where the blood's coming from."

Tony pressed on the middle of the suit hoping that it hadn't been too damaged to function properly, but nothing happened. He should've known it was bad when they lost his signal while searching.

He found a tear, a slice in the fabric and began to pull at it as gently as he could. It didn't matter; it was just a piece of cloth and could be rebuild.

That got a reaction from the boy. An almost silent groan escaped his lips as the two men tried as best they could to gently pull the fabric off.

"No…"

"Pete? Are you with us kiddo?"

The words that came out of his mouth were sad, almost pathetic as he seemed to sob at every minor movement.

"No, stop-!"

Tony's eyes met Bruce's, panic reflected in them. It didn't sound like Peter. The amount of hurt and sorrow vocalized in those two words, it was despairing- just so _un_ -Peter like.

"Stop, please… please…"

The begging- Peter was _begging_ for it to stop, the barely anything movements that shouldn't have bother him at all, for those to be hurting him so much…

"It's alright kiddo. You're safe." Tony was out of his suit, his hand barely cupping the side of Peter's face. "We're gonna get you home and fix you up."

"Please… stop…"

"How's it looking Bruce?

Bruce shook his head. "I found a puncture wound, looks like it was from a screw driver or something, but I think he might have a few broken ribs. We need to get him back to the compound, fast."

"Is it okay to move him like this?"

"To put it frankly no but he needs treatment and I can't go it here."

Tony stared down at Peter's pain stricken face. "Sorry kiddo, it's gonna hurts for a little bit longer."

Peter let a pained cry as Tony maneuvered his arms under his back and legs. "Please…"

"It's okay kid. I gotcha. You're safe. No ones gonna hurt you."

He watched as Peter's eyes cracked open. "Mr. Stark-?"

"Shhh- it's okay. Just try to relax. You're in good hands now."

"Thank you."

"You're gonna be okay Pete. We're taking you home."

 **I totally almost forgot to upload this chapter because of work. _And did you guys need the trailer for Avengers? Like ooooooooh my god I'm not ready for it._**

 **The other story I'm doing is almost done for the most part. I don't really like uploading until its completely finished but I feel like you guys deserve more for sticking with me through my downtime so I might upload the first part of it when I'm done with this little tidbit of a story and try not to keep you guys in wait for uploads of the other one because I know the horrible feeling of waiting in anticipation for new chapters and irregular updating. Lemme know what you think.  
**

 **Hope ya liked it. See ya later!**


	5. Chapter 5

School was done with for the day, thank god. Flash had decided to give him the special treatment and that meant not letting him have a second to himself besides the classes they didn't share. Decathlon practice wasn't too bad, MJ had it run a bit long just for extra time for them all to study.

But he was finally home. He had the keys to his apartment in his hands and was ready to relax for a while before going on patrol.

Upon reaching his door, he noticed a package addressed to him sitting next to it. Normally the mail would be sitting in the cubbies by the front door of the building and anything not able to fit would be kept with the landlord.

Peter shrugged. Perhaps it was a new carrier, why they would willingly go to the fifth floor to deliver a package no bigger than a shoebox was a mystery.

He brought it inside and placed it on the table while he put down his bag and got something to eat. May was pulling a double shift so she would most likely be home late that night or early morning. Peter thought he would do something they'd both appreciate and clean a bit before going out on patrol. The apartment wasn't exactly a mess but it could be much cleaner.

The next few hours Peter spent cleaning; dishes, dusting, vacuuming, sorting clean and dirty laundry, even doing what he could in the bathroom without having to break out the heavy cleaners.

It was a quarter past seven when he finished. It didn't look perfect but it was _much_ better than it's original state. He was going to head to his room to finish when he remembered the box he picked up when he got home. It was still sitting where he left it on the table.

He didn't know what to expect. He hadn't ordered anything and doubted anyone would send him anything. He half thought it was meant for someone else but it had his name on it. If it had been from Tony, it would've just been sitting in his room waiting for him; even if it was from one of the others, they wouldn't have known where he lived and would've most likely just left it with Tony.

Either way, he was a curious teenager. Even if it wasn't really intended for him, he was going to open it.

He got a knife and cut the edges where it was taped. The scent of almonds hit his nose. Maybe it was one of those companies that sent a free sample of things before hammering you with order and subscription forms. He slipped his fingers through the slots to open it further when it seemed to open itself, or more so explode in his face.

There was suddenly a white cloud of powder in his face.

Peter threw the box away from himself and fell back, knocking over a chair on his way. It stung his eyes and nostrils. He tried to dissipate the lingering cloud around him and found he was extremely short of breath.

He started to panic making breathing even more difficult. Then there was the burning in the back of his throat and chest.

He gripped at his watch, pressing every button he could until he heard an almost silent beep.

Thank god Tony had given him a watch with a panic mode.

 **AVENGERS**

It was supposed to be a day of relaxing; Tony finally had a clear schedule for once without needing Pepper to clear it for him. The projects he had could wait, there was no big, secret mission that had to be done, he didn't even have any meetings. It was just a day to stop.

Rhodey was there. Tony had invited him over to more or less just hang around and catch up on had been so long since they were actually able to sit back, have a drink, and talk about things; good and bad.

He had steered the conversation to Peter multiple times and Tony would merely laugh at whatever was said.

"Tones be serious with me, what is it about the kid? I'm as fond of his as anyone else, but I know he's special to you."

Tony put down is glass. "I don't know Rhodes. He's just got that- you know" he waved his hand. "He's a genius, kind and loyal to a fault, extremely humble… don't even get me started on his stupid idea of righteousness. You've met him, you know what I'm talking about. It's just- it's him."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, just wanted to hear you say it for yourself." Rhodey smirked at him.

The afternoon slowly turned into evening, the two of them swapping ideas and talking about old missions. The atmosphere was calming, but it switched instantly when Tony got an alert from Peter.

"What is that?" Rhodey asked.

"An SOS from his watch." A watch he'd had for a long time and never utilized before. Whatever happened must have been _bad._ "FRIDAY give me his location."

 _"It appears as though the signal is coming from his apartment. The tracker shows he went there after he got out of school and has been there ever since."_ The AI answered.

"Can you give me anything else?"

 _"No sir. The watch was strictly just to send an SOS."_

 _"Go_ Tony. Make sure he's okay." Rhodey urged.

Tony was out on the balcony and in the air flying towards Peter's house in seconds. Within minutes he was in front of the door.

He banged on it, yelling for Peter to open up before more or less kicking it open. The silence was unnerving, there was always something in the background when he visited.

When he entered he expected someone else to be there who maybe caught him off guard; seeing Peter unconscious on the ground, white dust on his clothes and a suspicious box nearby, was somehow much much worse.

"Come on kid." Tony was by his side, fingers on his neck checking for a pulse, extremely thankful when he found one. "Give me _something_ FRIDAY. What's this dust?"

 _"It appears to be powdered cyanide."_

"Cyanide? You gotta be fucking kidding me."

" _I'm afraid not. If he has inhaled a large amount then he's experiencing difficulty breathing and a weak pulse but is at risk for several other symptoms. He needs treatment immediately."_

"You don't need to tell me twice. Get a team over here to deal with this mess." Tony hoisted Peter up and wasted no time in leaving the building and flying back to the tower.

 **AVENGERS**

Peter felt a familiar pressure over his nose and mouth. He's had to use oxygen enough times to know it was a mask to help him breathe. The only thing was he didn't know why he needed it.

He tried to sit up a bit, feeling pillows already stacked behind him. The slight movement was enough to send him into a coughing fit. He pulled the mask off so he could properly cough and heard a voice calling to him.

"You're okay Pete. It's okay. Put the mask back on so it can help. Just breathe, deep breaths."

He was able to breathe easy after a minute.

"Good, good. Slowly in and out."

"What happened?" He asked weakly.

"That's what I'd like to know." Tony said as he took a seat in the chair next to him. "We got an SOS from your watch and when I got to your apartment I found you passed out covered in _powdered cyanide."_

"Is that what it was? It smelt like almonds." Peter held his head. "There was a box outside the door addressed to me and when I opened it, it kinda exploded in my face."

Tony rubbed his face. "I don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about this. Kid someone just tried to kill you by cyanide poisoning."

"Sorry Mr. Stark but if I'm not then I'm gonna panic and I know even when I'm like this that that's not a good thing to do." He smiled slightly.

"No, you're not allowed to logic your way out of this." He shook his head. "Is that really all there was to it; just the box outside? No strange person anywhere?"

"No, no strange person anywhere. My spidey sense didn't even warm me about it. There are security cameras in the halls though so we can probably find out who put it there."

"Nuh uh. There's no _we_ in this. _You're_ going to stay in bed until all of it is out of your system while _I_ go back to your apartment and get the security footage."

"Mr. Stark-"

"Look! You even have Rhodes here. I'm sure he'll tell you all the stories you don't need to know while I'm gone." Tony gestured to Rhodey.

Peter didn't see him until he was pointed out.

Rhodey was leaning against a wall, a slight smirk on his face as he watched the two interact.

"I think I got a few stories he'd find interesting."

"See? All the entertainment you could ever ask for while you're going to be _staying in bed."_ He started towards the door. "I'll be back later and I'll know if you leave or not."

Peter blinked at Tony's sudden departure before laughing. "I've never seen him like that before."

"He tends to get like that when it's a matter involving you." Rhodey smiled and sat down in the chair Tony had vacated. "Got anything specific you wanna hear?"

 **There ya go, a bit of a longer one that could probably function as an actual story if I put the effort into it.**


	6. Chapter 6

It was impossible. The situation was never supposed to happen.

Peter was currently laying face down in the back lawn of the compound; the physical pain in his back comparing to the emotional one he was feeling.

It had become a regular thing; everyone visiting the compound a few times a month to more or less give updates on what was currently happening in their lives, if they'd accidentally uncovered some secret military plan or anything. It was always the same old thing though. The previous week Scott had shown Peter every magic trick he knew and Peter couldn't figure out how he did any of them for the life of him.

What was currently happening was a lot less calm and laid back.

Happy had driven him upstate after Tony said he needed to be there to discuss a few things in private. Peter didn't mind that, everyone had their secrets.

When he arrived, along with the others, it was the same old thing like it had always been. Peter made small talk with Sam and Bucky, telling them about school projects and decathlon; neither seemed too interested but they humored him.

Steve had gotten everyone's attention and told them they'd be doing something a bit different that week, a sort of team building exercise/training run. It wasn't anything new, just a simple thing to see how well they fought together.

They all split into groups, then teams and paired against one another. Steve had explained they were using the ladder system; team vs team, winners vs winners and so on until there was one group at the top. He also informed them at someone was acting as a double agent and could stab their partner in the back at any time, gaining a victory for themselves and advancing. Only Steve and the traitor knew who they were.

Knowing that bit seemed to put everyone off; styles became sloppy, communication was bad, a few groups even stopped fighting their opponents and started going against each other.

Not Peter though. He refused to believe it. He was partnered with Tony and there was absolutely no way he would ever betray him.

The two of them had sparred with the others until they gave in. Group after group, they came out victorious. Steve's words hadn't jarred Peter in the least. He and Tony had the best communication and tactics out of everyone… and yet Peter was laying face down on the grass after Tony had shot him in the back.

"Sorry kid, no hard feelings; just doing business."

Peter had blinked several times while trying to comprehend of what just happened actually happened. He pushed himself up so he was on his elbows.

"You alright there Peter?" Scott called out.

"I think you might have broken him Tones." Rhodey said as they all watched Peter making no effort in responding to their calls.

"Yeah, kinda figured something like this would happen which is why I didn't want to do it in the first place." Tony replied.

"It's a perfect example though." Steve said. "We all know what it's like to have a teammate turn against us; that's why everyone fought like they did. Peter's still relatively knew to all of this. It was a lesson for him to know you can't always put your full faith in someone when you're in our line of work. Doubt is a good thing to have but I think everyone else needs to work on their trust issues."

"Maybe do some of those trust fall things." Tony said. Everyone more or less rolled their eyes at his words. He turned back to Peter. "Okay kid, sorry I basically killed you. Are you good?"

"I've got it!" Peter suddenly sprung up and ran over to Scott and proceeded to do a magic trick. "It's like this!"

"Heeeeey you actually got it from last time. That's awesome dude!" Scott clapped him on the shoulder.

"You- were thinking about a magic trick?" Sam asked. "Seriously. A magic trick during a training exercise?"

"Peter?" Steve raised an eyebrow. "Did you listen to a word we just said?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry Cap, I've been trying to get this trick worked out since last time-. Yeah, don't put your full trust into anyone when you know they could actually turn on you in a second and stab you in the back for their own malicious deeds. I know."

"Well, not in those words but-"

"If you know then why didn't you doubt me at all?" Tony asked. "You listened to every order I gave you and turned your back to me every second you got."

"Honestly Mr. Stark, I knew it was you when Cap announced that someone would be a traitor." Peter shrugged.

"Uh huh. How?"

"You turned your back on me just as many times as I turned my back on you. You weren't worried about me betraying you at all because you knew I wasn't the traitor. You poked at the others saying their partner would stab them in the back. Everyone else started arguing and doubting each other but you never said a word against me, you didn't even give me a questioning look. You're talking about not having blind faith in someone but you sure had a lot of blind faith in me during the whole thing. Besides, there had to be a reason you needed to get here early to talk about something that I didn't need to know about."

Everyone was silent at his answer. He was spot on about everything. Tony _did_ have blind faith in the kid. Everyone knew he'd never purposefully try to injure a teammate, even in the training exercises they did.

"Got me there kid. Guess everyone needs to work on some things."

 **Okay, as of now, this little thing is done and it gonna be marked as completed. I might add some things later like if I get ideas that can't fill a whole story so keep an eye out for strange updates or something.**

 **Please point out any spelling or grammatical errors I might have missed so I can fix them in the future.**

 **Hope ya liked it. See ya in the next one!**


End file.
